February Wine of the Month Club

[kryptonitewine]

I've got a lot going on right now and to deal with it for February I'm making the following as originally aired on the TV show Fantasy Island

If it's good enough for Mr. Roarke, it's good enough for us. Try this recipe for Rocket Fuel.

3 oz Sloe Gin
2 oz SoCo
2 oz Amaretto
2 oz Gin
2 oz Vodka
3 oz Grendine
9 oz Orange Juice
9 oz Cranberry juice

 

[wineforfun]

DJ

my quess is that your chococherry will clear out but it will take it's own sweet time. My choco strawberry and my choco raspberry have cleared. ALL the chocolate dropped out SLOWLY.

Jim,
I do believe you are correct. I looked at it this morning and though it is still very cloudy and early in the game, it is showing hints of getting clearer. I think your "taking time" advice is right on.
Thanks.

 

[ckvchestnut]

My blueberry peach batch is proving interesting! It's got a peach dominant flavor due to the fact that the pectic enzymes working on that faster. I'm sure interested to see how the blueberry comes forward later. So my ferment was already down to 1.000 this morning after just pitching the yeast 3 days ago! So I'm step feeding sugar to 1.010 until the yeast finally stops. Have done this twice today. Will see what the SG is tomorrow am.

 

[Jericurl]

Well crap.

I wanted to do this as a plain BOMM. I used hot water to mix with my honey 3 hours ago. My must is still over 100 degrees!

I hit my smack pack around 7 or so. I'm thinking about going to bed in about an hour. The yeast package says to add yeast to oxygenated wort/must at 65 to 72 degrees.

I'm considering adding some frozen fruit just to get the must cooled down so I can pitch the yeast.

 

[Winenoob66]

Jeri why not just pitch your yeast in the morning?

 

[Jericurl]

It's a Wyeast smack pack.
It contains something like 100 billion yeast cells.
You slap the container to bust an inner bag, then the bag swells for a couple of hours creating an insta starter.
I had smacked it at around 7 and it's quite warm in the house. The bag was already pretty swollen and I was afraid if I waited it would explode.

I just added 3 lbs of fruit to the mead must to cool it down.
I'll let it go through fermentation and then rack it onto several pounds of fruit in the primary. I'll just have to start a "real" BOMM in the near future.

 

[ckvchestnut]

OMG! I'm sorry it's funny and shouldn't be... But that is funny!

 

[Jericurl]

Ok, Here's the recipe for my modified Bray's One Month Mead. My batch is a little over 3 gallons.

Cheap Sam's club honey to SG of 1.08
3/4 tsp DAP
1 1/2 tsp Fermaid K
3/4 tsp K2CO3
I used hot water so that it would be easier to mix my honey in...If you do this give yourself a loooong lead time. Honey/water mixture apparently holds it's heat very very well.
Added a 3 lb bag of triple berry frozen fruit, not looking for flavor, I just wanted to get the temperature down so that I didn't kill the yeast.
Pitched Wyeast 1388 on 02-08-14

 

[Jericurl]

Just got home from work and everything appears to be chugging along happily. This is probably the best smelling ferment I've had so far.

Now I just have to go to the grocery store and wait on a couple of other items I've ordered to arrive and then I will be nailing down my Kama Sutra recipe! I'm hoping I have everything in on time so that I can actually start it on Valentines day.
I'm going to try to get some frozen cherries, I have oak powder on the way as well as some vanilla beans, saffron, and some rosewater (yayy for getting my tax return early). I haven't completely decided on my recipe yet. I'm excited though, I think it's going to come together nicely.

 

[ckvchestnut]

Wow it all sounds good Jeri! I'm happy with my blueberry peach batch so far! At first it smelled and tasted like a tart peach, now the blueberry is coming forward. It's not done fermenting yet. I'll be better able to tell what kind of flavouring boosts it will need once it's done. I'm prepared to make a blueberry concentrate if needed. And I'll have the peach essence flavoring on hand as well.

 

[Jericurl]

Oh good, I definitely want to know how it works out.
I'm going to Sam's tomorrow and since we got a deep freeze, I'll be loading up on a ton of fruit, especially blueberries.
I'm excited to hear about how peaches/blueberries mix together.

(I'm actually considering making a peach/blueberry pie just so I can taste it myself)

 

[ckvchestnut]

Awesome! I couldn't live without my deep freezer! I had a huge one just for our sides of pastured beef we sometimes buy. But running that was expensive I just have a nice smaller one now to keep extra meat and fruit in! I'll keep updating on my batch still step feeding it sugar.

And yes! Do make that blueberry peach pie lol! Have you googled blueberry peach? All these wonderful food recipes come up! I hope to end up with a port style that tastes something like a blueberry peach torte or creamy pie lol. Nice dessert wine!

 

[ckvchestnut]

And if u do make that pie I want tasting notes!!

 

[Winenoob66]

lol the heck with tasting notes on the pie I want a slice

 

[ckvchestnut]

Well I would too but distance would make that a tad difficult!

 

[the_rayway]

My Pink Lady Wine is coming along nicely - I had to move it to my bedroom to cool it down though. Started to get a slight sulfur smell and realized the library was so hot it was stressing the yeast!

Jeri - next time only use 2/3 of your water hot to dissolve the honey, then make the last third really cold (put it in the fridge for a few hours before you start). It'll help with the heat issue

Dang it! Now because of Carolyn and Jeri I'm going to have to pick up some blueberries and peaches for a dessert. Just reading their posts made me hungry. I'm really looking forward to how that batch comes out.

Am already thinking about March's batch! Lol. Pecan Pie Wine anyone?

 

[ckvchestnut]

Yummy!! That sounds good! Rayway! Well now I also have to get more blueberries and peaches ever since I googled blueberry peach and found all those delectable recipes and l this talk!!

Well you guys are going to have a big laugh at me! I freaking well misread my hydrometer at the beginning of my batch. I even took a picture do now I know I misread it?! I thought I had brought it up to 1.130 but only brought it up to 1.030! I've been step feeding sugar twice a day ever since lol

 

[the_rayway]

Wahahahaha! And here I'm thinking: holy poop! That's got to be the fastest ferment ever!!!

 

[ckvchestnut]

Ya me too! Lol it went from 1.130 to 1.020 in two days!! I even corrected my notes from 1.030 to 1.130 lol I must be losing it. If I hadn't found that picture I would have thought these were the feistiest yeasts I ever came across

So today after this morning's breakfast sugar feed I would technically be at about 1.120 for SG with all sugar added. We'll see how far the yeasties go from here!

 

[Stressbaby]

Calamondin-Passionfruit Wine update:

I pitched the yeast on this a week ago, Monday morning, knowing I had to be out of town Thursday-Sunday and hoping it might go fast and I might get it in a carboy before I left.
Unfortunately on Wednesday evening it was still 1.080 and not bubbling very much at all. So I put it by a register in a nice warm pantry in the center of the house and left instructions with the house sitter to stir twice a day. I braced myself for the possibility of either having to restart a stuck fermentation or possibly throwing it out.

When I got back it was perfectly still, no bubbles at all. Uh oh. Then I tasted it - no sugar! Tested the SG and it was 0.998! It just needed some heat to get going and finish. It has a nice orange color, smell, and taste. Not sure how much passionfruit flavor will come through but I have some ideas on how to add some back.

It is amazing to me how sensitive the primary fermentation is to temperature.